The aim of the study was to assess the status of treated slaughter-house effluent from Dagoretti slaughterhouses
and its effect on the physico-chemical characteristics of Kavuthi stream. Samples of both treated slaughterhouse
effluent and water along a 5 km stretch of the stream were taken and subjected to standard procedures to
determine the levels of pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Total Suspended Solids (TSS),
Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) between January and April 2010. The
first two months corresponded with the dry season while March and April with wet season. A mean of 2520±7.66
μS/cm for EC, 2.3±0.13 mg/L for DO, 189.66±3.65 mg/L for TSS, 80.90±5.27 mg/L for BOD and 609.3±81.87mg/L
for COD were recorded for slaughter-house effluent. The corresponding measurements for the stream water samples
were: 5.41± 0.13 mg/L for DO, 736±5.69 μS/cm for EC, 89.74±2.51 mg/L for TSS, 27.15±2.9 mg/L for BOD and
190.82±43.29 mg/L for COD. While the downstream sites from the point of effluent discharge showed much higher
concentrations of the parameters under investigation than the head waters, it was evident that as the stream
progressed it was able to recover through self purification. Although the slaughter-house effluent were treated, it did
not meet the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) standard for effluent discharge into the
environment leading to cross pollution of the receiving water based on the parameters under investigation. This
therefore, calls for the need to upscale the existing wastewater treatment system and to enforce existing legislations
to curb water pollution to safeguard both the environment and human health.

H.K. Koech, G.M. Ogendi and J. Kipkemboi, 2012. Status of Treated Slaughter-House Efluent and its Effects on the Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Surface Water in Kavuthi Stream, Dagoretti-Kenya.
Research Journal of Environmental and Earth Sciences, 4(08): 789-796.